Lambert

Mystery surrounds this German neo-classical pianist who wears a Sardinian, handmade leather mask — complete with antlers — to disguise his identity. His somber, thoughtful Chopin-esque miniatures released under the Lambert name were initially issued in 2014 on Berlin’s independent Staatsakt label, before Universal’s Mercury KX imprint added him to a roster of like-minded contemporaries in 2017, which included Ólafur Arnalds and Sebastian Plano. He achieved a soft, dampened sound by introducing felt material to the inside of his piano, his earliest releases showcasing his delicate and hypnotic playing style in a solo context. However, as the decade wore on, Lambert’s recordings became increasingly collaborative, leading to a 2020 album — False — which featured a different guest artist on each of the 14 tracks.
Born Paul Tony Lambert in 1983 in Northern Germany, he moved to Berlin in his early twenties. He spent years studying jazz piano, and even drummed in garage rock acts before eschewing both of those genres to focus on developing a minimalist, modern classical repertoire. Initially he reworked the material of indie acts in this style at their request, Anglo-American duo Rue Royale being the first to approach him in 2013, resulting in a reinterpretation of their single “Set Out to Discover.” Similar work for Me and My Drummer and Bonaparte led to the release of Lambert’s self-titled Staatsakt debut in 2014 as well as soundtrack compositions for Sonja Heiss’ comedy film Hedi Schneider Is Stuck. Some of that material appeared on September 2015′s Stay in the Dark, a record fittingly penned and recorded in its entirety at night. This was also the first point at which Lambert began subtle experimentation with production techniques, such as with the backwards piano notes that graced the track “Noise.”
His 2016 output was relatively low-profile and began with April’s Lost Tapes, his final record on Staatsakt. Initially a limited-edition release that made no reference to the track titles, it was marketed as an EP, even though it contained 17 relatively short pieces. Excess followed in October on the Belgian tape label Dauw, a session that was reputedly improvised and recorded during a period of heavy drinking. Altogether more saleable was 2017′s Sweet Apocalypse, Lambert’s debut for Mercury KX, a record that revealed increased use of drums, strings, and brass. The following year’s We Share Phenomena was jointly billed with Brookln Dekker of Rue Royale, whose vocals featured prominently on the standard edition, while an additional version was simultaneously released in instrumental form. Two solo EPs — Alone and Alone II — appeared on either side of September 2019′s True and its accompanying Tom Oxenham-directed mockumentary Becoming Lambert. In 2020, Lambert issued False, his most eclectic and varied work, featuring 14 different artists who were newly signed to Mercury KX. ~ James Wilkinson